1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a metal carrier made of sheet metal embedded into trim to provide proper rigidness in the transverse direction as well as in the longitudinal direction; particularly the carrier is not cut or broken prior to being covered with rubber or plastics and the like, but after being covered, i.e., in the embedded state, the strip is partially cut or broken and thus attains flexibility and elasticity in the longitudinal direction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known that trims are applied to a corner portion or mating portion of motorcars, furniture, etc. for the purpose of ornamentation, protection and sealing. The trim is bent in U-shape form in the transverse direction after forming.
The forming process of the trim is shown in FIG. 1. From a winding roll 1, a metal carrier 2 made of sheet metal, is covered with rubber or plastic covering material, by means of an extruder 3, then embossed through an embossing roll 4, and in the case of rubber, vulcanized through a curing unit 5, and formed at a take-off unit 6, and then bent by means of a forming machine for bending 7. This process produces the sectional form as shown in FIG. 2. Metal carriers such as those shown in FIGS. 3 to 7 have been generally used.
In the case the metal carrier 8 shown in FIG. 3, strip-like element 10 arranged approximately regular intervals connected with a connecting link 11 at the center portion of the strip. The formed trim using this metal carrier has a certain degree of flexibility, thus providing relatively good working characteristic for applying to the corner portion of an object. However, since the connecting link 11 is connected to the strips 10 at the center portion, the carrier 8 lacks in flexibility in the longitudinal direction. And, when winding the metal carrier 8 on the winding roll 1, the carrier is liable to transform in the transverse direction and when extruding rubber or plastics to cover the carrier, working characteristics are not good and thus liable to generate inferior goods.
The metal carrier 9 shown in FIG. 4 has the strip-like element 10 arranged at approximately regular intervals which are connected with the connecting link 11 at a position slightly inward from both marginal regions. The metal carrier 9 has good working characteristic when extruding covering material, but it lacks elasticity and flexibility in the longitudinal direction of the formed trim, so that working characteristics for applying it to the corner portion of the object member is not good.
The metal carrier 12 shown in FIG. 5 has the striplike element 10 arranged at approximately regular intervals is alternatively connected with the connecting link 11 in a zigzag pattern at both marginal regions. The metal carrier 12 has flexibility in the longitudinal direction for the formed trim, but when extruding the covering material of rubber or plastic the metal carrier 12 stretches in the longitudinal direction, so that working characteristics are not good. The metal carrier 13 shown in FIG. 6 has the striplike element 10 arranged at approximately regular intervals is connected with two strip edges 14 at both marginal regions and the strip edges can be easily cut or broken from the striplike element 10 by bending. The metal carrier 13 is covered with covering material with the strip edges 14 exposed and the opening resulting from the cutting and removing of the strip edges 14 is repaired by filling. The metal carrier 13 is thus embedded into trim in a discontinuation state, so that the formed trim has flexibility and elasticity in the longitudinal direction and the working characteristics are good when extruding, but the process for manufacturing the trim is complicated and the metal carrier 13 comes out of the covering material when the trim is subject to sudden transformation such as twisting and the like.
The metal carrier 15 shown in FIG. 7 has in the striplike element many transverse slots 16 in the transverse direction which are formed at given intervals in the longitudinal direction.
At the top and bottom of the connecting links 17 are the thin link portions 18 which are thin and may be easily cut or broken by an external force. The metal carrier 15 is covered with rubber or plastics and then the connecting links 17 at top and bottom are cut by external force, thus putting the metal carrier 15 in discontinuation state. Although the formed trim has flexibility and elasticity in the longitudinal direction, when winding the metal carrier 15 on the winding roll or when extruding covering material it is susceptible to cutting and separation, so that the working characteristics are not good. Moreover, like the metal carrier 13 shown in FIG. 6, the metal carrier 15 which is embedded into the trim is discontinuous, so that when the trim is subjected to sudden transformation such as twisting the metal carrier 15 comes out of the covering material.